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This week, more about the great number of movies made, usually in Hollywood and always by American film companies, to glamorize the Mounties.

In spite of often low production values, films about the Mounties were churned out in the dozens from the turn of the last century to the 1960s. Some of this was due to policies of the Canadian Government, but the main reason was that those film companies would parachute in American film stars to ensure marketability in the world’s greatest film market: the United States!

Of course, it also worked to further the careers of their stars! Here are some examples:

A smash hit was Susannah of the Mounties, 1939, with Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott, with the child star stealing every scene. As with many of the Temple movies, the films were syrupy sweet, only this one was maple syrup! This was a big box office hit, attesting to Temple’s star power. It didn’t hurt Scott’s career, either!

In 1936, Wildcat Trooper was made with hero athlete Jim Thorpe playing an Indian fur trapper, and Yakima Canutt, often considered the best movie stuntmen of all time, playing the bad guy. A Mountie is assigned to capture the bad guy, known as The Raven, and the action starts. Thorpe went on to play numerous roles as an Indian in these potboilers. This is not a notable Mountie film.

1940 saw a new hit Mountie movie: North West Mounted Police with Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Robert Preston, and Paulette Goddard, all American stars. All the male actors of note played RCMP officers, except for Cooper who played a Texas Ranger(!) who pursues an outlaw who has fled to Canada’s north.

There is tension between the Ranger and the RCMP.officers, who feel Cooper is breaking Canadian law. An ambush by the outlaw gang threatens to overwhelm the Mounties, but Cooper helps save the day, gets his prisoner, says goodbye to the Mounties, and rides off into the bush with his prisoner in hand.

Even as a kid, I had trouble swallowing such a storyline!

In 1942, we had North of the Rockies, with Tex Ritter and Lloyd Bridges as budding actors. This low value flick had the bad guys smuggling furs across the American-Canadian border! Tex Ritter played an American who eventually helped the Mounties to restore order.

In 1951, Gene Autry and the Mounties was released with Pat Buttram and Champion, World’s Wonder Horse, joining Autry as stars. Autry was already established when he appeared in this potboiler. He crosses the border in pursuit of an outlaw band and gets involved with the local Mounties, who have already had problems with the outlaws.

Working together, the heroes eliminate the outlaws, save the gold, and ride off into the sunset!

Great fare for kids, especially when you consider that this was as good as most of Autry’s films. Champion usually did some tricks in the films; Autry always sang a tune or two.

Saskatchewan, 1954, with the parachuted American star being Alan Ladd, also featured Hugh O’Brian and Shelley Winters and Director Raoul Walsh. When I first saw this film, I was completely taken aback, as the title was Saskatchewan but the movie featured many shots of mountains! All of us know there aren’t any big mountains in Saskatchewan! Turns out all the action took place at “the headwaters of the Saskatchewan River,” but it was not made apparent! It was a reasonable hit for Ladd, and is fun to watch even today.

The Canadians was made in 1961 with the star interest being Robert Ryan, a notable American actor. A tribe of Sioux Indians has crossed the border into Canada seeking peace from the Indian Wars to the south. The Canadian Government allows the Sioux to stay, but American cowboys and Indian fighters follow the Sioux into Canada and raid one of the Sioux villages. The North West Mounted Police are formed to ensure law and order.

This film turned out to be a bit better than the normal Hollywood RCMP fare.

Our final example will be Dudley Do-Right, 1997, with Brendan Fraser, Sara Jessica Parker, and Eric Idle. Fraser was born in the States to Canadian parents, so he is particularly iconic for this column.

The movie happened to be a bit of a flop, but maybe this serves as a tombstone over this era of potboiler RCMP movies with American stars!